Before reading of him in Principal John Macleod’s Scottish Theology in Relation to Church History, I had never heard of John Maclaurin. A contemporary of Jonathan Edwards and Thomas Boston, he stood within the old Evangelical wing of the Church of Scotland during the long, wintry reign of Moderatism. Impressed with the high praise for his sermon “Glorifying in the Cross of Christ,” I recorded it here. Here is a rich sample from Maclaurin as he waxes eloquent on the “fabric of nature” visibly responding to the horror of the death of the Prince of life:
“The frame of nature solemnized the death of its Author; heaven and earth were mourners; the sun was clad in black; and if the inhabitants of the earth were unmoved, the earth itself trembled under the awful load. There were few to pay the Jewish compliment of rending their garments; but the rocks were not so insensible, they rent their bowels. He had not a grave of his own; but other men’s graves opened to him. Death and the grave might be proud of such a tenant in their territories; but he came not there as a subject, but as an invader, a conqueror. It was then the king of terrors lost his sting; and on the third day the Prince of life triumphed over him, spoiling death and the grave. But this last particular belongs to Christ’s exaltation: the other instances show a part of the glory of his humiliation, but it is a small part of it.”
You can read more about Maclaurin in the PDF below, taken from Macleod’s work and the DSCH&T. And be sure to check out other audio titles from the Old Church of Scotland and the entire West Port Audio library.
West Port Experiment 
Leave a comment